CORPUS CHRISTI – The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi cross country and track and field teams have signed 13 to National Letters of Intent, director of cross country and track and field Shawn Flanagan announced today.
"The addition of the near completion of the outdoor facility has had a very beneficial effect on recruiting this year," Head Coach Shawn Flanagan said. "We have been able to attract some very high caliber athletes that will have an immediate impact on our ability to be competitive in track and field. They are all part of a very significant recruiting class."
The Islanders have signed Ann-Kathrin Ott (Singen, Germany), Lara Huelsebusch (Pinneberg, Germany), Brandie Garcia (Laredo, Texas/Alexander HS), Kylie Conaway (Portland, Texas/Gregory Portland HS), Julia Urdiales (Sweeny, Texas/Sweeny HS), Edgar Martinez (Forth Worth, Texas/Paschal HS), Daniel Guerrero (Corpus Christi, Texas/Moody HS), Daniel Rhodes (Ebertsheim, Germany), Sampson Valadez (Corpus Christi, Texas/Carroll HS), Omesha Locke (Savannalamar, Jamaica), Melina Ortiz (Port Lavaca, Texas/Calhoun HS), Kerissa Wiley (Markham, Texas/Tidehaven HS) and Luisa Pasold (Leipzig, Germany).
Ott, Huelsebusch, Garcia, Conaway, Urdiales, Martinez and Guerrero will all join the Islanders Cross Country teams. Ott will come to the Island with a personal-best time of 4:45 in the 1500m and 10:20 in the 3k. Huelsebusch has a personal-best time of 4:43 in the 1500m and 11:23 in the 3k steeplechase. She finished eighth in the Germany Cross Country Championship in the under 20 division. Both Ott's and Huelsebusch's personal-best times would have put them on the medal stand in the mile and the 3k at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships this season.
Garcia finished fourth at the 5A regional cross country meet this year and was a state qualifier. Conaway was a state qualifier in cross country while Urdiales was a regional qualifier in cross country. Garcia, Conaway and Urdiales will join the women's cross country team while Martinez and Guerrero will join the men's cross country team. Martinez holds a personal-best time of 4:22 in the 1600m and Guerrero is a state qualifier in cross country. All five will have an immediate impact in cross country and will add some strong distance running both on the courses and on the track.
With the arrival of the new track and field stadium, the Islanders are excited about the addition of Rhodes, Valadez, Locke, Ortiz and Wiley. Rhodes ran a personal-best time of 1:53.80 in the 800m, which would have put him on the platform at the indoor championships. He also holds a personal-best 49:00 in the 400m, which is a top 10 time in the Islanders record books. Valadez, will join the Islanders sprinters with a personal-best time of 21.80 in the 200m and will help the men's team immediately in the 200m, 400m and in the relays.
In the field events, Locke will look to follow in Assistant Coach Hickel Woolery's footsteps in the discus and shot put. The Jamaica native, has a personal-best throw of 160' in the discus and a distance of 40' in the shot put. Her discus throw would put her in second place in last season's outdoor conference meet and she will be a very positive addition in the shot put. Pasold, a native of Germany, will compete in the high jump for the Islanders. She has a personal-best clearance of 5'8" which would have won her the high jump title at the indoor conference meet this season. Ortiz comes to the Island from Calhoun High School and has a personal-best distance of 37'10" in the triple jump which would have scored at the indoor championships. Rounding out the signees is Wiley, who will also be competing in the high jump. Her personal-best clearance of 5'9" would have won the indoor championships title this season.
"This is a significant recruiting class as it the first one that will have the use of our new track stadium facilities," Flanagan added. "They represent a big leap forward in the story of Islander Track and Field."
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